found 13 eggs UNDER the coop!

I have 3 free range pullets, one has been laying for a whil but i lost track of her eggs when it started raining a lot. One I have never seen lay or even try until 2 days ago and she used a nesting box and tried a spot on the front porch (might have been laying and I didn't know it the dog may have got her eggs) And then there is one who has been laying every day in the chimera on the porch (yes in the ashes!) since last Thurs.
I found 13 under the coop today!! I would assume since they are dry and not covered in mud that it could only be since the last down poor which was last Thursday but I could be wrong. I am not sure how dry it stays under there in the rain. The ultimate question is IS IT SAFE TO EAT THESE EGGS??? or should I toss them all since I don't know how old they are? I would rather not crack open a rotten one! yikes!

ok we are having the exact same thing here! I have a group of pullets out in my garden & up untill a week & 1/2 ago in that same garden there were 3 ducks in there who were using a dog house at night & had a little fenced in area within the fenced in garden area. In that same fenced in garden area is the chicken coop for the garden chickens & they are allowed to free range the garden (the garden is 40' X 80') so the ducks needed something bigger than their baby pool to swim in & so I allowed them to go to the backyard pond & of course now they refuse to go back to the dog/duck house. In the mean time I've been waiting for the hens outside to go use the nexting boxes in their own coop & 1 did so last week. I have wooden eggs in there & all to give them the idea but yesterday I'd said to hubby that I'd seen a couple hens come in & out of the little dog/duck house & so I'd peeked inside but it was hard to see in because it's so dark. Today hubby checks & better than me & there were 4 eggs in the corner closest to the door so I would have had to stick my head in to see or a hand into feel around to have detected these eggs..... I think tomorrow I'm going to make sure the door is closed to that little dog/duck house & I don't think I trust these eggs.

It was 4 eggs & there are 4 pullets but I'd have no way of knowing if it was 1 eggs from each hen that all layed them today or if it was 2 hens on 2 different days or the same hen having laid an egg for 4 days in a row. I've got eggs from my other group of girls & now that I know hopefully I can get them going in the right place.

I felt a real need to come & tell this story as hubby & I were SO taken aback w/the discovery tonight & I needed to share it w/chicken people. What sneaky little buggers huh? LOL

I don't know the shelf life if they've been left out. The more eggs the more I'd be concerned to because you've no way of knowing how long they've been there. Even the 4 eggs I've got technically could have been laid over the course of days... It's gonna kill me to toss them though and they looked to be oh such a nice size for pullet eggs.....

All you need to do to test eggs is first make sure they're not cracked. Second put them in a large bowl of water. If fresh, they will lay on their sides at the bottom. If not fresh, they will float to the top. Eat any eggs that don't float to the top. The reason they float is because so much of the liquid inside the egg has evaporated through its pores that it now has a large air bubble inside. Not a meaningful aspect on it's own, but it just tells you the egg is probably past 2 months old or so. For an egg that is "a little bit old" -- say, 3-4 weeks -- the egg will stay at the bottom, but inside of being flat on its side, it will tilt up at one end (more air inside) -- still totally fine to eat. Generally speaking eggs fresh from backyard chickens are safe much longer than 10 days. However, if you wash them and refrigerate them (not necessary to do this) then they must STAY refrigerated. Washing them takes the protective coating, or bloom, off the outside of the egg and they deteriorate more rapidly. If you're really worried, just hardboil them and make egg sandwiches.

yes but if these eggs have been outside then it really isn't just a question of shelf life but they were outside &/or had not been collected for refridgiration. Isn't there a difference? It's actually been pretty cool here for the past few days but it's not as cold outside during the day as the fridge & so I'd think that would spoil the eggs no? Will the freshness test still be the same?